With the characteristics of loose structure, low cohesion and poor stability, the aeolian sand is of poor stability against wind erosion under the arid and windy environment, which affects the stability of transmission line tower foundation. Sand consolidation technology developed in recent years can effectively improve the physical and mechanical properties of aeolian sand and improve the bearing capacity of foundation. To study the influence of cement solidification technology on the bearing capacity and failure mode of tower foundation, aeolian sand in the Taklimakan Desert in the south of Xinjiang Province is taken as the research object. The aeolian sands with water contentsωof 3% and 5%, and aeolian sands consolidated with cements which mass percentage are 4%, 6% and 8%, as two kinds of stuff materials, are used to form the foundation filler. The load-displacement curves, ultimate uplift bearing capacities and foundation failure modes of test model foundations in above two kinds of fillers were obtained by carrying out the pull-out tests in the laboratory, and the formation mechanism of failure mode of foundation filling was explained based on the numerical analysis method. The test results and theoretical analysis show that the solidification of cement can enhance the stiffness of aeolian sand, which makes the deformations between foundation and aeolian sand more compatible. The influence of cement content on the ultimate uplift bearing capacitiesTuof foundations is related to the water contentsωof aeolian sand, specifically, the largerωis, the greaterTuis, andTuincreases monotonically with the increase of cement content whenω=5%. With the increase of cement content,Tuincrease first and then decrease whenω=3% andTuis maximum while the cement content is 6%. Before and after consolidating the aeolian sand, failure modes of the foundations changed from tensile and shear failure to tensile failure. The theoretical analysis shows that the foundation on both sides of the anchor plate yields first, and with the increase of uplift load, the yield range gradually expands upward. The interface between the upper part of the foundation and the foundation yields synchronously, and gradually expands downward. Finally, the upper and lower plastic zones intersect and connect at a certain depth, and the foundation is destroyed. The results of direct shear tests on the aeolian sand samples before and after consolidating with cement indicates that the ultimate uplift bearing capacitiesTuof test foundations and cohesioncof the aeolian sand samples consolidated with cements satisfy linear relationship. SEM observations exhibit that the cementation material filling the spaces of sand particles in the aeolian sand changes microstructures of the aeolian sand, which affects the deformation and uplift resistance of foundations in aeolian sand.
